Obsession is a film I watched with minimal expectations or knowledge, and I came out with the realization that I had seen not only the biggest surprise of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) but also the best horror movie of the year. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s one of the best horror films I’ve seen in the past five years, which is a statement that I do not take lightly, as I am very particular when it comes to this genre.
As someone who grew up on a plethora of horror movies, I very rarely get scared watching them anymore, especially modern ones, as I feel I’ve seen pretty much everything that could frighten me. While that’s not to say I can’t appreciate modern horror films, I quite enjoyed Sinnersand Frankenstein(2025) this year. However, I like those films more from a filmmaking, narrative, and production value perspective than whether I was scared watching them, which I wasn’t.
Therefore, when I say that Obsession is that rare horror film that genuinely left me terrified, it should put into perspective just how effectively executed and immaculately made this film is and how bright a future its director, Curry Barker, has within the world of horror filmmaking. What makes this film especially amazing is that 1) Barker’s prior work includes a 60-minute found footage movie and two horror shorts that are all available on his YouTube channel, “That’s a Bad Idea,” and 2) it was made for only $1 million. The latter fact is especially remarkable because the filmmaking, cinematography, and special effects in Obsession are genuinely more impressive than most modern big-budget Hollywood horror movies I’ve seen.
The gore work in this film alone is so over-the-top, yet so well-executed, that even now, as I’m writing this review, I can still vividly remember the scenes themselves and the guttural reaction I had while watching them. The ones that are particularly worth pointing out are any scenes of self-harm conducted by Niiki (Inde Navarrette) and an evisceratingly brutal death scene involving a woman in a car.
While the gore is great from a visual and filmmaking perspective, what really sells these violent moments are the actors, who all give incredible performances. Michael Johnston is excellently convincing as Bear, the scummy protagonist who is constantly conflicted between doing what’s right and satisfying his own selfish desires. Cooper Tomlinson as Ian is phenomenal, providing much-needed comic relief to break apart the barrage of scares and tension.
However, Inde Navarrette as Nikki is by far the best actor in Obsession, as she does a fantastic job balancing the craziness and scariness of her supernaturally possessed character. For someone who has never done anything in horror before (Navarrette stated in the Q&A after the Midnight Madness screening that this is her first horror movie), Navarrette manages to frighten me in every frame that she’s in. Whether it’s standing in place smiling while urinating or delivering a creepy passage about incest, Nikki is a haunting presence throughout the film’s runtime that I both wanted to look away from and couldn’t stop watching in awe and terror.
Yet, as violent and creepy as Obsession is, it’s worth pointing out that the film is also surprisingly hilarious in all the right ways. Barker is clearly inspired by various comedians-turned-horror filmmakers, such as Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger, as this film’s ability to balance horror and comedy feels tonally and structurally reminiscent of the movies from those directors. Barker himself has created hundreds of comedic sketches with Tomlinson on the “That’s a Bad Idea” YouTube channel, and it’s clear that his experience in comedy has helped him find both the humour and horror in this sickening and eerily violent horror movie.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Obsession ends up becoming a cult horror comedy classic in the same vein as Evil Dead II or Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, because this movie is certainly great enough to be remembered in a similar light. Obsession is, without a doubt, the must-see film of the year, and I hope that it gets enough attention that Barker will be given even bigger budgets and resources to continue making horror films that will knock my socks off.
Rating: 9/10